Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Yale University alumni Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974.[1] The company produces low-budget independent movies that play on 1950s horror with elements of farce. Many Troma films contain social commentary. In 2012, the company officially released many of its films on YouTube.[2] Troma has produced, acquired and distributed over 1,000 independent films since its creation.[3]

Troma films are Z-movies known for their surrealistic or automatistic nature, along with their use of shocking imagery; some would categorize them as "shock exploitation films". They typically contain overt sexuality, nudity, and intentionally sadistic, gory, and blatant graphic violence, so much that the term "Troma film" has become synonymous with these characteristics. Troma's slogan is "Movies of the Future." Troma reuses the same props, actors, and scenes repeatedly, sometimes to save money. At a certain point, however, this became another hallmark of Troma. Examples include a severed leg, a penis monster, and the flipping and exploding car filmed for the movie Sgt. Kabukiman, NYPD, which is used in place of any other car that needs to crash and explode.

In 1985, Troma had a hit with the violent dark comedy superhero filmThe Toxic Avenger. The film went on to become Troma's most popular, spawning sequels and an animated television program. However, following the financial demise of the company Troma itself, the sequels to the film were box office bombs, and the cartoon adaptation quickly ended. The Toxic Avenger character is now Troma's official mascot.

Kaufman's follow-up film to The Toxic Avenger was Class of Nuke 'Em High, co-directed with Richard W. Haines. The film was a hit nearly as successful, though it inspired two unsuccessful sequels, both following the financial demise of Troma. At one time, it was the highest-selling VHS release for Troma.

The Toxic Avenger was turned into a musical which debuted at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey and opened in New York in the fall of 2008. The Toxic Avenger Musical book by Joe DiPietro, the author of the long-running I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change and All Shook Up, was released the same year. The music is by David Bryan, keyboardist of the rock band Bon Jovi.[7]

Soon after Class of Nuke 'em High was completed and distributed, Kaufman directed Troma's War. Intended as a criticism of what it saw as Ronald Reagan's attempt to glamorize war, the story concerns a group of everyday people who crash land on a remote island, only to find it populated by an isolationist militia that intends to overthrow the US government. Troma's War was a box office bomb. In the aftermath of the film's poor financial performance, Troma experienced financial hardship, jettisoning the company from the Hollywood mainstream. In the years that followed the financial failure of their films, Troma tried to reestablish itself as a smaller, independent film company, mostly out of financial necessity. Despite unsuccessful attempts to assert itself in the mainstream Hollywood community, notably with two direct sequels to The Toxic Avenger, and another stab at the superhero genre Sgt. Kabukiman, NYPD, Troma was unable to reenter the mainstream film market.

Today, the majority of Troma films are viewed for the first time on VHS or DVD, with some theatrical releases for their films in smaller art houses, college campuses, and independent cinemas.

In August 2012, Troma released "over 100" of its back catalog films on YouTube, many for free, some for 48-hour paid viewing.[8]

Troma's financial hardship worsened after the botched funding of a low-budget video feature titled Tales from the Crapper, which cost $250,000 despite most of the footage being completely unusable.[citation needed]India Allen, one of the producers, backed out of the film halfway through, and sued Troma, citing breach of contract, slander, sexual harassment, trade slander, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Kaufman supervised a reshoot in an attempt to salvage the film, dividing the footage into two parts and recasting the film as a double feature. Tales from the Crapper was released on DVD in September 2004.

Kaufman's long-time editor Gabriel Friedman co-directed and wrote the screenplay to his follow-up film, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, a musical zom-com which made its official New York premiere on May 9, 2008 (although the film had previewed numerous times on single screens for over a year). The film opened to positive reviews from Entertainment Weekly, and The New York Times.[9] Financially, "Poultrygeist" was a box office disappointment, with a low-box office draw of only $22,623 against a budget of more than $450,000 (estimated)[10]Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead was released in 2006 in theaters and 2008 on DVD.[11]

During the winter of 2010/2011, Troma produced a feature-length film Father's Day, which Kaufman calls "a response film to Mother's Day".[12] The film was written and directed by the Canadian filmmaking team Astron-6, debuting October 21, 2011, at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival where it took home the top prize of BEST FILM, as well as five other awards.[13] In 2012 Father's Day was featured on the cover of Rue Morgue magazine[14] and won Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Male Performance, and Best Special Effects at The Fantastic Planet/A Night of Horror International film festival.[15] This is a rare and impressive feat for a film that cost only ten thousand dollars to make.[16] On October 31, 2012, Father's Day was refused classification in Australia,[17] which makes it effectively illegal to sell or exhibit the film.[18]

Troma holds the annual Tromadance Festival in Park City, Utah at the same time as the Sundance Festival to accentuate their true independence from the mainstream. The festival screens submitted movies from independent filmmakers from around the world, the best of which are usually released on DVD by Troma or compiled in the Best of Tromadance series. In parallel, Troma acts as adviser to aspiring filmmakers with Kaufman teaching classes, contributing cameos and often releasing the finished films on DVD. 2009 marked the last time Tromadance was held in Utah; the festival was subsequently relocated to Asbury Park, New Jersey. Additionally, Tromadance adjusted its annual schedule to take place in April rather than in January as in previous years. In 2014, the festival moved to New York City and took place in June.

Kaufman has also had some success with several non-fiction books and a novelization of The Toxic Avenger. Released in 1998, All I Need to Know about Filmmaking I Learned from the Toxic Avenger is an autobiography of sorts co-written with James Gunn. This book was significant to those interested in Troma and Kaufman because it signified the first time a book had chronicled the history of the company, its films and its iconic figurehead. Kaufman continued to draw on his experiences as Troma chief in the "how-to" filmmaking books Make Your Own Damn Movie!, Direct Your Own Damn Movie!, Produce Your Own Damn Movie! and Sell Your Own Damn Movie!. A DVD box set has been released to coincide with release of each of the three books. In the video series, Kaufman interviews famous and infamous filmmakers about various filmmaking subjects.

In 2006 a novelization of The Toxic Avenger was released. It was co-written by Kaufman and long time Troma employee Adam Jahnke.

Some titles which have at one time, or another, been distributed by Troma Inc. have left the catalog. For instance "My Neighbor Totoro" was originally released by Troma's subsidiary 50th Street Films, but only for a short time, and only for US Theatrical Release. Other's were briefly licensed for distribution on VHS such as "Femme Fontaine Killer Babe For the C.I.A." which was one of Troma Team Video's original Launch titles along with "Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD" and "Class of Nuke Em High Part III: The Good, The Bad and The Subhumanoid." Some title, such as "Maniac Nurses Find Ecstasy" are included on this list because they were previous listed but no longer appear in Troma's catalog.[20]

^Shortly after Troma and Starz entertainment entered into agreement for the production of "Return to Nuke Em High" Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. As of present "Return to Nuke Em High Vol. 1" has had a theatrical and home video release, while the 2nd volume is still in post-production and will likely premiere at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival."The Toxic Avenger' Remake Confirmed" www.fearnet.com April 7, 2010.